Blame It On Sakura
by Kristy Selean
Summary: Even though they admitted their feelings, she's upset for some reason. Will Sakura's chaotic fall from gymnastics do the trick of pulling her & Syaoran together? And who's the new boy that Sakura likes so much? R+R onegai!
1. The Fall

Blame it on Sakura  
  
Kristy: Hey, everybody! I'm back with yet another story. I just had a great idea and I couldn't give it up. I'm basing this story on a book called Blame It On Chelsea by Emily Marshall. If you've read the book, great. Some things are going to be familiar if you read this, but I guarantee that some things will be different other than the characters. Ok. On with the story.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer - This will be my one big disclaimer for the story so I won't bother everybody every time I put this up. CCS belongs to Clamp and the storyline and book belongs to Emily Marshall.  
  
  
  
Chapter 1 - The Fall (oh wow. Interesting title. ^.^;)  
  
  
  
"Isn't he gorgeous?"  
  
A sixteen year old girl with light brown hair and deep emerald eyes sat with a dreamy look on her face.  
  
"Who?" "Him! Haven't you noticed?"  
  
Tomoyo looked up to see a young man on the rings. His good figure made him look extra strong, his forever messy dark brown hair gave him a cute look, and his amber eyes easily grasped the attention of the ladies currently in the gymnasium.  
  
"He's okay, I guess."  
  
Tomoyo turned her attention back to her singing book. Every now and then, she turned her eyes to catch a glance of a certain boy with ebony hair and dark eyes with a mischevious smile. Of course, her best friend Sakura happened to notice all the attention she had been giving him.  
  
"Now look who's daydreaming."  
  
Tomoyo istantly blushed at Sakura's remark.  
  
"What are you two doing? We should be studying and preparing ourselves, not guy shopping."  
  
"Aww, but Chiharu, you already have Yamakazi. We need someone too."  
  
Chiharu sighed with a great sweatdrop on her forehead.  
  
"It's not easy being the captain of a gymnastics team, I guess."  
  
Sakura, Tomoyo, Chiharu, and Rika were part of the gymnastics team known as the Blue Stars. Originally, they were known as the Tomoeda Gym Club Girl's Gymnastics Team, but eversince Sakura and Tomoyo came up with the name, it just sorta stuck. The girls were at a very big competition and were currently at the exhibition. Eversince Naoko didn't make the cut out of the two hundred girls who auditioned, she became a manager and helped out with all the preparations and became a second coach.  
  
"Sakura? Hello? Anybody in there?"  
  
Sakura snapped out of her trance just as her dream crush's routined ended. After landing in perfect position, the captain went over to talk to his friends including Yamakazi and the mysterious boy that Tomoyo liked so much. Out of the five friends, Naoko was the brains of the outfit. She helped arrange study groups and organized schedules for practicing and getting all of the homework done. Rika was the shy one of them all. Her light-colored skin and red-brown hair with spacy eyes gave her a mysteriously set background when she actually was a very kind and gentle girl. Tomoyo, on the other hand, was very mysterious. Her deep set violet eyes and long black hair gave her a nice touch to her light skinned face. Although she may seem to be completely innocent, she could have something up her sleaves. As for Chiharu, she wasn't one for patience. She was very serious and dedicated to things and valued integrity very much. So much for Yamakazi's lies... Chiharu had brown hair tied up in pigtails and brown eyes that gave her face a more younger appearance. Last but definitely not the least was Sakura. Her light brown hair and deep emerald eyes made it impossible for anyone to resist her puppyfaces. She was a very silly girl who was very down-to-earth and sometimes a little nieve. Her innocence added to her beauty and gave her a polishing finish of her caring and brave characteristics.  
  
"Sakura, look. Watch closely. Other than the Hiyaku girls, this team is our rival. If we can beat those two teams, we can make it into the city- wides."  
  
Sakura rolled her eyes. Chiharu was just a little obsessed with her duties as captain.  
  
"They're good."  
  
"Really good."  
  
Suddenly, Sakura seemed to notice somebody on the Hiyaku team. She seemed to be a smaller, more delicate version of herself.  
  
"Her name's Silia. She's a new recruit for the team. She came from America not very long ago, but she's very skilled in her Japanese as well as her gymnastics."  
  
Chiharu finished her explanation just as Silia got on the bars. Silia did a straddle kip glide to the upper bar and flung herself off the upper bar, doing a backward somersault, catching it again a moment later. Just after she finished her routine, the audience went wild, clapping with thunderous applause. Sakura looked around until her eyes went across the captain whom she liked so much. He smiled at bit and clapped. Sakura stared at his amber eyes when she suddenly realized that his eyes were fixed on Silia. Sakura tried to hide her jealousy as Tomoyo mouthed an "Jealous, aren't we?" to her. Sakura frowned and bit her lip as she began to realize that she really was jealous of all the attention Silia was getting from the captain.  
  
"Sakura, will you be okay?"  
  
"Don't worry, Tomoyo-chan. I don't know why I feel so competetive right now, but I'll get his attention before the exhibition is over."  
  
"Well, you're in luck, 'cause were up next."  
  
The Blue Stars completed their group floor exercise and began their solo floor routines. Sakura smiled as she came out with her favorite routine. Even though the floor routines were Chiharu's favorites and not Sakura's, she loved this routine because it contained the three d's that she liked best: difficult, daring, and dazzling. Sakura flung herself into a series of flic-flacs into an aerial somersault with a pike twist. After her perfect backward double somersault in tuck position, Sakura felt on top of the world. Just as her routine came to an end, the gymnasium filled with thunderous applause.  
  
"Way to go!"  
  
Sakura scanned the crowd as she realized that the voice belonged to none other than the captain of the boys' team for Tomoeda. Sakura smiled at him before walking off the floor as he seemed to have blushed.  
  
"Looks like somebody enjoyed your routine."  
  
Tomoyo nodded her head towards the captain's direction who seemed to be smiling back at Sakura at this time. Sakura started tinting red when one of the members of his team came over to them.  
  
"Hey, ladies. Sorry to break your concentration right now, but I have a message for the brave lady."  
  
"Hoe?"  
  
Chiharu started to fume with anger while the other girls just looked in Sakura's direction. Sakura cringed at the thought of what Chiharu might do to poor Yamakazi. Surprisingly, Chiharu sighed and gave in.  
  
"Fine. Just make it quick, and it better not be a lie."  
  
"Arigato."  
  
The Yamakazi turned his head towards Sakura and smiled while handing over a note.  
  
"Read it after your performance."  
  
Sakura smiled and put the note away before she quickly stepped up in line for vaulting. Sakura started off first in line of the Blue Stars. Sakura's favorite was vaulting because of it's challenging ways. Eversince Syaoran left her and went to Hong Kong, Sakura started to be a little more aggressive and she found her talent in gymnastics as soon as cheerleading became "out-dated." Sakura did her vaulting perfectly while landing with a twist. The crowd went wild and cheered louder than a thunderstorm. The captain was of course clapping enthusiastically as well. Sakura noticed Silia standing with her team... frowning.  
  
'She actually noticed me. Well, I know what Tomoyo would say. "Fearless Kinomoto strikes again." I just hope I can keep this up.'  
  
Sakura moved next to the horse to spot Tomoyo. After the vaulting events, they moved on to the rings. Sakura's performance was simple but perfect. However, she did not feel content.  
  
'The applause is not as loud as it was when I was vaulting. There's only one thing to do. I have to make my beam act special. Something that would really wow the crowd.'  
  
Sakura used to be really clutzy with the beam considering it was only four inches wide and four feet off the ground. However, after a while, Sakura began to enjoy working on it more. One thing she really liked about it was the daring leaps and saltos that really brought the crowd in, and if there was anything that Sakura could do, it was leaping. All her practice from catching the Clow cards and transforming them into Sakura cards gave her enough practice to make it on the team.  
  
"Are you ready, Sakura?"  
  
"Yep. Let's go."  
  
Tomoyo moved in to spot Sakura for the beam. Sakura kept up her routine very gracefully, but it didn't seem to be as dramatic as Silia's and Chiharu's performances. She needed something that would grab everyone's attention. Sakura made her mind up then and there that she would use a new move she had been practicing. It was a backward somersault on the beam and landing with one foot on the beam and one foot raised in front of her. She landed it twice already, but her coach told her that she wasn't ready.  
  
'Auntie Sonomi doesn't understand. If I'm not ready now, when will I be ready?'  
  
Sakura knew that she would be in big trouble if she did it, but she just had to. Determined to do this move, Sakura pushed off from her flic-flacs and did her backwards somersault.  
  
"Sakura!"  
  
Sakura suddenly realized that she swerved off to the side as she did her somersault and there was no way that she was going to land on the beam. Tomoyo reached out to catch her, but her hands only brushed against her waist. They both knew that there was no way that Tomoyo could catch Sakura. With a sickening thud, Sakura hit the floor and looked down to realize that her foot was twisted in an awkward position. A sharp pain shot up her leg and made Sakura feel as though she broke her leg.  
  
"Oh no!"  
  
Dr. Kamiya and Sonomi quickly rushed to her side along with her team mates.  
  
"Sakura!" "Are you okay?" "How much does it hurt?"  
  
"Girls, please calm down."  
  
Sonomi walked over to Sakura while Dr. Kamiya checked her ankle.  
  
"Can you walk, Sakura?"  
  
Sakura groaned and shook her head no. Then, she saw Tomoyo at her side crying.  
  
"Sakura, I'm so sorry that I couldn't catch you. I'm so sorry. I tried to catch you, but-"  
  
"It's okay. I'll be fine. Besides, it wasn't your fault."  
  
"Let's get her to the locker room while the rest of you girls finish your performances."  
  
"Do you need any help? I can carry Sakura while the doctor sets up the locker room and the coach watches the rest of the team."  
  
Sakura lifted her face to see the captain of the boys' team and immediately dropped her head in shame. However, she did try to supress a blush from seeing his worried amber eyes. The captain of the team knelt down to carry her when the doctor stopped him.  
  
"We appreciate your help, but I'm afraid you will need to supervise your team. You guys are up next, remember?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
The captain took one last look at Sakura before he left for his team. Meanwhile, Dr. Kamiya and Sonomi got a stretcher to take Sakura to the locker room for safety precautions. The rest of the team took a short time out to follow Sakura as the boys' Tomoeda team started their performances.  
  
*~* In the locker room *~*  
  
Dr. Kamiya felt her ankle as Sakura winced to keep back her tears.  
  
'No. I won't cry. It doesn't matter if Syaoran left me or not. I promised him that I wouldn't cry no matter what.'  
  
"How is it, Dr. Kamiya?"  
  
Dr. Kamiya smiled.  
  
"Sakura-san, you are a very lucky lady. From what I can see so far, it seems like a simple sprain, but we'd better go to the hospital for an x-ray exam just in case. I'll meet you at the hospital then. See you, Sakura. Believe me, be grateful that it wasn't as worse as I had expected it to be."  
  
Sakura felt horrible for doing this to her team. She not only injured herself, but she injured them. She saw her aunt and coach Sonomi looking worried. Chiharu was espescially worried. Sakura hated watching her friends like this considering that Chiharu espescially really wanted to focus on winning. All of their worrying made Sakura feel even worse.  
  
*~* In the Van *~*  
  
"Sakura, I'm so sorry. I really wished I'd been there to catch you. I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough..."  
  
"Tomoyo, it's okay. I'm the one who changed the routine at the last second."  
  
"Thanks, but I still wish I caught you."  
  
'So do I. Then again, it isn't her fault. Still, if only she'd been a little bit faster... no. I shouldn't be accusing her like that. Still, if only she caught me, the team wouldn't be down by now.'  
  
Sakura replayed the fall in her mind and shuddered. She remembered how she felt dizzy and on top of the world one minute, then falling with a throwing up feeling in the pit of her stomach as she landed with a sickening thump on the floor with her legs twisted beneath her. She saw how the team captain offered to help her and how much she just wanted to disappear.  
  
'How can I ever face my fears and get back on the beam again?'  
  
Sakura gritted her teeth trying to be strong while holding back her tears.  
  
'Look at me. I'm pathetic. I made a promise to some other boy I ended up like back in fourth grade and here I am keeping that stupid promise for not just his sake but my own. And on top of that, I'm starting to like someone else. What is wrong with me?'  
  
*~* At the Hospital *~*  
  
"Sakura! Are you alright?"  
  
Sakura was greeted by her overprotective brother and her loving father at the entrance to the hospital.  
  
"What happened to you?"  
  
"Nobody better have been hitting on you and done this, cause if they did..."  
  
"Touya, Dad, it's nothing but a sprain! Don't worry, I'll be fine!"  
  
Sakura tried to laugh and joke all the way to the x-ray room, hoping that they all bought the act. Actually, they believed that she was taking it very well. Everyone... except her father who just happened to be able to read her thoughts with ease. Fujitaka frowned and tried to hide that he knew how she felt so that he wouldn't discourage her from trying to cheer up her friends.  
  
"Yep, Sakura is still the 'Fearless Kinomoto' of us all."  
  
Rika smiled and cheered Sakura on to be happy while Chiharu opened the door to the x-ray room. Sakura limped into the cold and empty room. After what seemed like forever, her x-rays were done, and Sakura was dismissed to wait for the results.  
  
"It looks like I'll be missing out on the homework club."  
  
Starting from the beginning of their gymnastics careers, the Blue Stars formed a homework club to help them with their homework and help them practice their routines at the same time.  
  
"Actually, Tomoyo thought of that."  
  
"Well, Chiharu suggested it, but we got permission from your dad to come over to your house to do the homework. Afterwards, if you think you can start again, we can all come over to my house instead of the gym to study and practice."  
  
"You mean your mansion."  
  
Tomoyo rolled her eyes at Chiharu for making that last comment. Soon, Dr. Kamiya and a nurse came to the waiting room.  
  
"You're in luck, Sakura. I told you it's only a minor sprain. Also, you didn't damage your ligaments or cartilage."  
  
"Hoe?"  
  
"That means you didn't do any serious damage."  
  
"Oh. Arigato, Naoko-chan."  
  
The nurse wrapped up Sakura's leg in an ace bandage before she left with Fujitaka and Dr. Kamiya to fill out the prescription for the pain. After filling out the prescription and getting the medicine, Sakura went home to her room where she went to rest.  
  
*~* In Sakura's Room *~*  
  
It was well past bedtime when Sakura made it home. Sakura groaned as she hit the light switch and limped to her bed after closing the door. Just then, Kero's eyes immediately grew twice their usual size as he flew over to Sakura.  
  
"Sakura, what happened?!"  
  
"I just sprained my ankle at the exhibition, Kero."  
  
"How did that happen, Sakura? Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine, Kero, but I'm not in the mood for answering how it happened."  
  
Sakura changed painfully into her pajamas and decided to get some sleep. Kero on the other hand was already fast asleep by the time she finished changing.  
  
'Silly Kero. He must have played too many video games to be this sleepy.'  
  
Just then, Sakura remembered something in her gym bag. It was the letter that Yamakazi handed her before her... performance. She slowly opened the letter and read it to herself. It said:  
  
"Hi. I'm the captain of the boys' Tomoeda team. I know that you've heard about me and maybe some other rumors as well. If you can spare the time, I'd like to talk to you. You see, our coach has been telling us some strategic plans and I wanted to share them with the girl's team. I know that Chiharu would usually want to be in this, but I'd feel more comfortable talking to you. If you would meet me, please be at the Penguin Park at 7:30 next Saturday. Thanks."  
  
Sakura read the note over one more time.  
  
'Strategy. It looks like I've already blown it for both school teams!'  
  
Sakura replayed the thought of the fall again as she shuddered. She remembered every detail of it to the fullest extent from the beginning of the move to the disgusting finale. She remembered how her friends immediately rushed to her side as the sharp pain shot up her ankle and made her feel paralyzed. She felt the guilt and the horror inside of her as she winced to hold back her tears.  
  
'He wouldn't want to see me. Besides that was before I blew it. If Syaoran-kun was here or if he called or wrote, he'd cheer me up, but he doesn't do any of those because he doesn't even care about me! I can't take it anymore!'  
  
Sakura lost her temper and threw the letter to the ground. She started pounding her pillow with all the fury, rage, guilt, and fear that she had within her. However, no matter how much she screamed out in her pillow, not a single tear drop could leave her face.  
  
to be continued... 


	2. Betrayed?

Blame It On Sakura  
  
Kristy Selean: Hi! I know some of you guys liked it and some other people didn't, but please bear with me and I will do my best to satisfy both sides and show you my plot soon. Some of you have been wondering if the boy Sakura liked was Syaoran-kun. Well, I can't really tell you right now, but he is very important so take very good notes on him. *note: this isn't finished yet!!!*  
  
Chapter 2: Betrayed?  
  
The sound of a fairly loud alarm clock was the only sound in the whole house. However, no one was there to turn it off. It was Syaoran's old apartment room that had not been used since he left. He somehow left behind his alarm clock when he was packing in a hurry. Mysterious and eerie magic began to move its way into the room. A gentle yet firm hand grasped the clock that was under the bed and quietly turned it off. The owner of that hand smiled.  
  
"You will do nicely. She will never know what hit her."  
  
*~* In Sakura's room *~*  
  
Sakura stared at her image in the mirror. Something just wasn't right. She studied her reflection from head to toe until she realized her problem. Her ace bandage was such a boring shade of beige. Sakura added a few pins in her hair and pulled up her socks to realize that they weren't high enough to cover the bulge of ace bandaging around her leg. Sakura shook her head and sighed. She just didn't want to think about it anymore. Suddenly, she had a great idea. Sakura hopped over to her jewelry box and pulled out a few gold safety pins and pinned some silk flowers, beads, ribbons, and artifacts of color to liven up her boring bandage.  
  
"Well, at least it looks better than before."  
  
Sakura glanced over at the clock to realize that she would be late if she didn't hurry. She wouldn't be able to roller skate to school just as she used to and made herself wake up half an hour earlier to have enough time. Just as Sakura closed her jewelry box and grabbed her crutches, the flower card popped out and put a peach blossom in her hair. Sakura thanked the card for its thoughtfulness and rushed out the door, barely having time to grab her lunch and schoolbag. Just as she closed the door to her house and began to leave, a blue sportscar sped up to the driveway and stopped in front of her. To her surprise, Touya came out of it.  
  
"Touya?"  
  
"I heard what happened. Hop in. I'll give you a ride."  
  
Sakura smiled at her brother. Even though he had a tendency to tease her a lot, he still cared about her more than anyone could imagine. Sakura gingerly came up to the car with her crutches as Touya helped her in. However, even though she started to be cared about more, Sakura couldn't help but feel sad that she was still stuck in her disposition.  
  
"Arigato, Oniichan."  
  
Sakura secretly shed a tear and quickly wiped it off. She hated looking weak in front of her brother, and now was definitely not the time to worry him.  
  
*~* At School *~*  
  
"Whoah! I never knew you could do that with those!"  
  
"When we sprain our legs, you have to decorate our bandages too!"  
  
"I will, don't worry."  
  
Sakura smiled at her friends. Somehow they always knew how to cheer her up and make her feel special. After a whole day of school in crutches and friends to help her, Sakura started to feel a bit tired from all the work she had to do.  
  
'I never knew crutches took up so much effort to use. It's a good thing I'm still in shape from gymnastics.'  
  
Even though she had to work so hard to get from class to class, Sakura still felt happy, espescially when the captain of the boy's team talked to her. Although it was just a brief moment of giving her a compliment of her bandage, it meant a lot to her, considering that he wasn't ignoring her after her mistake. It was a shame that he was accompanied by too many people that Sakura could barely catch a glimpse of him when he was talking to her, but it still felt good to know he cared unlike Syaoran who abandoned her.  
  
'He would never do anything for me, would he? We may have worked together for a while, but he's never there when I need him anymore. What's the point of liking him anyways?'  
  
As the last class of the day drew to an end, Sakura and her friends from gymnastics headed out of the school, engaged in a very interesting conversation. Although Naoko had made it to the semifinals in the writing competition that she had tried out for years, she still didn't seem happy about something.  
  
"Your writings made it?"  
  
"Way to go, Naoko-chan!"  
  
"Arigato, but that means I have to go to America for the semifinals today. Then I won't be able to be Sakura-chan's replacement for our next match."  
  
"That's okay. We got our new alternate today, remember?"  
  
Naoko, Rika, and Tomoyo all shot a glare at Chiharu for starting the conversation. Sakura felt shocked and betrayed that they would have to get an alternate, but then immediately felt sorry that she felt that way. After all, it wasn't their fault that they needed an alternate but hers. On top of that, she knew she should be thankful that they found an alternate in such a short amount of time.  
  
"Alternate?"  
  
"She's been here before, and I think you'll recognize her when you meet her. She's really good at gymnastics."  
  
"But she's not as good as you are, Sakura."  
  
"Yeah, Sakura. Nobody can take your place."  
  
"Thanks, but why didn't you tell me earlier?"  
  
"We wanted to but we thought it would be better to tell you personally?"  
  
"Why would you think that?"  
  
"Because, we didn't want you to get mad or upset."  
  
"Tomoyo, why should I be upset? You guys obviously need someone to take my place. I was just wondering if she was good enough, that's all."  
  
"She is. Definitely."  
  
Tomoyo, Rika, and Naoko rolled their eyes again. Chiharu means to be nice, but sometimes she had a hard time being a bit tactful. Sakura did feel upset that someone had to take her place, but she knew that it really was her fault for not obeying the rules. The friends waved good-bye as they went their separate ways.  
  
'First Syaoran leaving me, and now this. Is my life just cursed or something?'  
  
*~* At the Gym *~*  
  
"Do you need help?"  
  
"No thanks. Besides, the last thing you'd want to get is to hurt your ankle again."  
  
Sakura sat back down on the bleachers while watching Eriol roll out the mats as the Blue Stars were coming out of the locker room. Alongside them was another girl, someone who was really familiar.  
  
"Hey, Sakura. Remember me? My friends call me Mei Mei now, but you can still tell that I'm the old..."  
  
"Meilin!"  
  
Sakura and Meilin embraced after being away from each other for so many years. Meilin still had the same features as she did back in fourth grade, except for the fact that she was taller now and was really skinny. However, even though her figure made her look a bit weaker than the others, Sakura knew very well that Meilin could teach anyone how to fly with her fists.  
  
"Remember, Sakura, we may be friends and we may be on the same team, but I'm going to be competitive with you, got it?"  
  
"Alright, Meilin."  
  
"Girls, it's time to warm up."  
  
Sakura watched as Meilin along with her friends went down to do their stretches. She had to admit that she did feel left out watching them have fun, but what bothered her the most was that Meilin was gaining altitude in her reputation quickly. She immediately got recognition from Sonomi and the other Blue Stars, not to mention someone else Sakura wanted to get attention from. The captain of the boy's team seemed to be watching Meilin's every move, studying her closely... too closely.  
  
'Maybe they won't be needing me anymore. Wait a second, Sakura. Get a hold of yourself. That's going way too far. Even if Meilin was far better than she was, they wouldn't try to replace her, would they?'  
  
"Alright girls. Now that we warmed up, let's go to the beam for some practice on that. Meilin, why don't you go first?"  
  
Meilin climbed up on the beam and stood poised and ready to start her combinations of moves. Sakura clasped her hands in front of her as her pulse raced. No matter how good Meilin was, Sakura couldn't help but think about falling off the beam. Sakura winced her eyes shut to keep it out of her mind, but as soon as she closed her eyes, a flashback of the time she fell replayed in her mind. Every move she made from the air to the ground was crystal clear. Sakura fluttered her eyes open and tried to watch Meilin, but she realized that she couldn't. Even though she knew she should be watching them, Sakura couldn't focus without being freaked out.  
  
"That was good, Meilin, but your transitions are a bit jerky. What do you think, Sakura?"  
  
"Uh.... I thought it was good... I didn't see it at all..."  
  
"Well, try to keep an eye on them next time, okay?"  
  
"Yes maam. Um... I'll go get a quick drink and come back."  
  
Rika and Chiharu gave each other a glance as Sakura carried herself in her crutches to the drinking fountain. The cold water soothed her as it went down her throat, instantly calming her down.  
  
'That's all I needed. I was just thirsty, that's all.'  
  
However, Sakura had a sinking feeling that the reason why she had to leave the gym in a hurry was because she couldn't stand watching them perform anymore.  
  
'If I can't bear to watch them practice, how am I going to perform?'  
  
Sakura stepped back in the gym to see her friends working on their beam tactics with the boy's team working on their moves. The captain was still watching Meilin intensely which started to stir up Sakura's jealously. Knowing she couldn't watch any more of situation, Sakura called her dad to pick her up early.  
  
"Dad, can you take me home?"  
  
"What's wrong, Sakura? I thought you liked watching your friends practice."  
  
"It's just that... my ankle's starting to hurt again."  
  
There was hesitation on the other line. Sakura hated trying to lie espescially to her dad, but she knew that she had no other choice.  
  
"If something's bothering you, Sakura, just know that I'll always be here for you, alright? I'll be there in about five minutes."  
  
"Arigato, otousan."  
  
*~* At the Hospital *~*  
  
Sakura yawned as Dr. Kamiya unwrapped her Ace bandage carefully so he wouldn't ruin the designs that she had made. Sakura woke up an hour earlier than usual to get to the hospital so she wouldn't be late for school. Besides, her father knew that she would have to walk considering that Touya was the only one in the family who had a car and was late last time for his exam from dropping off Sakura. Sakura fidgeted in her seat as the bandage was pulled away.  
  
"Am I hurting your ankle?"  
  
"Hm? Oh, no."  
  
Dr. Kamiya carefully checked over her ankle as Sakura watched his expressions in suspense, hoping that he had good news for her. When he realized that Sakura was anxious, Dr. Kamiya smiled.  
  
"It looks good, Sakura. The swelling went down, and it doesn't seem stiff. I think it's safe to go back to practicing, considering you won't take down everything at once. Great news, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, terrific."  
  
Even though she knew that if her ankle was better so soon and it would mean she could return to practice sooner, Sakura still didn't feel right. Noticing how she felt, Dr. Kamiya smiled at Sakura.  
  
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. You'll catch up. From what I see, you were ahead of them anyway. Just make sure you continue to soak your ankle in warm water and baking soda for another week or so just in case, ok."  
  
"Ok. Thanks for everything, Dr. Kamiya."  
  
Dr. Kamiya gave Sakura back her Ace bandage as a momentum. After the nurse helped her get down from the examination table, Sakura walked gingerly out the hall to the main waiting room to find her friends and her dad waiting for her. Sakura gasped in surprise as they waved happily at her.  
  
"What are you guys doing here?"  
  
"We just wanted to give you some moral support. Besides, it's never fun seeing the doctor when you feel like you're alone. Sorry, but no offense Dr. Kamiya."  
  
"It's okay, girls. Everyone seems to have some sort of fear of the doctor even if you may be close friends with him. You gals better hurry up, or you'll be late for school."  
  
"It's alright. We have a ride arranged for us so we can take our time a bit. Come on, girls. Let's go."  
  
Sakura and her friends were hopping in the car when Fujitaka stopped her for a quick moment. Sakura looked back at him, hoping she wasn't in trouble, when he gave his usual understanding smile.  
  
"I thought that you wouldn't want to forget your lunch twice, so I brought it for you."  
  
"Oh, oops. Arigato, otousan."  
  
Sakura hopped back in the car as they started to head for school. Just as they started going on the road, Sakura saw a brown paper bag waving in front of her face.  
  
"We thought you might want breakfast, considering how late you always wake up."  
  
"Oh wow, thanks! I'm starving!"  
  
Sakura began to dig in, eating the chocolate muffins, remembering to leave a few pieces for Tomoyo to sneek to Kero who was hiding in Sakura's backpack as usual.  
  
'Hm... chocolate. Syaoran used to love chocolate... Oh, Sakura, stop it! Get over him will you? Even Meilin came back, and he's still not here. Obviously, he's gone for good. Even more, stop debating over this. It's settled and eat your muffin before Kero-chan wants the whole thing instead of just pieces of it.' 


	3. First Sign of Trouble

Blame It On Sakura  
  
Kristy Selean: Hiya! This has been the most reviews I ever got for three chapters!! Thanx everyone! I'm a very happy author! ^-^ Ok. This chappy has more action and some magic, but it's gonna be kinda short.  
  
Chapter 3: First Sign of Trouble  
  
It seemed to be amazing that school ended so early. Sakura felt that the classes that took forever seemed to only last a few minutes each. Sakura rushed out the door when school was finally over despite her ankle's conditions and went home to get ready for the meet at Hiyaku. After a quick stop in the kitchen to get some snacks for herself and Kero, Sakura ran towards her room.  
  
"Hey, Sakura! How was your day?"  
  
"It was great! I think my ankle is just fine now. I'm running around and coming back to myself again."  
  
"That's good. Listen, sorry I had to fly out of your backpack right before lunch was over. I just figured out how to beat this level so I had to go try it."  
  
"It's no biggy, Kero."  
  
Sakura sat on the edge of her bed and put the tray of snacks down for her and Kero to share. Kero grabbed a cracker and stuffed it into his mouth, making his head look like it just expanded a few times bigger than usual. Sakura nibbled on her cracker when a sudden thought came to her mind.  
  
"Kero, how do I learn how to sense things like Clow Reed?"  
  
Kero swallowed the remains of his cracker before answering Sakura.  
  
"Why do you ask that?"  
  
"Well, I'm the most powerful sorceress now that I've beaten Eriol, and things have been pretty quiet. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid, but what if something happens and I don't end up sensing it? What if my magic gets a little, how do I say this, rusty?"  
  
"Hm... I suppose you have a point there. You'd have to ask Clow Reed himself about that. About the magic getting rusty, you'll just have to use your powers once in a while to keep from losing your touch."  
  
"I guess so. I'll ask Eriol later if I see him at the match today."  
  
*~* Hiyaku Gymnasium *~*  
  
"Wow. It's so crowded in here, but the place is gigantic!"  
  
The entire gymnasium was flooded with people who were trying to get a good seat for the performance that day. Sakura barely found a place to sit where all the bleachers were. It was just enough to fit her and maybe one other person. Sakura found all of her friends glancing about nervously as they sat or stood near their posts for the big event. Sakura smiled when she saw Tomoyo filming everything and making the rest of her team nervous as Sonomi came around the corner. Surprisingly enough, Sonomi stepped toward the podium and stood behind the current speaker who was the principal of Hiyaku.  
  
"We thank you for coming to join us for this spectacular event. Tonight, our Hiyaku girls are up against Tomoeda's Blue Stars. Please give them a hearty welcome and our girls an applause of encouragement."  
  
The stands filled with thunderous clapping, cat calls, and whistling to cheer for their team. Then, the principal stepped down from the podium as Sonomi started to speak over the P.A. system.  
  
"Before this meet begins, I wanted to say that Sakura Kinomoto, one of our most valuable gymnists, injured her ankle at the citywide exhibition. We are lucky to have Meilin Li to take her place tonight. However, the girls from the Blue Stars and I wanted to dedicate this match to our beloved member Sakura. Get better soon, Sakura. We really miss having you here."  
  
The crowd broke into a friendly applause as Sonomi signaled Sakura to stand up. Sakura stood up shyly, completely embarrassed yet ever so grateful for the audience's understanding. Sakura felt completely choked up at how much her friends cared about her and how they did so much to make her feel special. After sitting down, Sakura began to be excited about going back for practice again when an all too familiar scene took over her mind. A slight shift toward the wrong way and coming down to meet the mat. Thwump! Sakura's heartbeat started to speed up immensely. However, little did she know that someone came to take that empty seat by her.  
  
"Do you mind if I sit down?"  
  
"Oh, no. Go ahead."  
  
Just as Sakura turned to welcome the newcomer, she realized that he was the captain of the boy's team! He quickly smiled in her direction before looking on ahead to watch the match. Sakura was in complete shock that he would find her in the entire crowd just to sit next to her in the game while his other team mates were down with the Blue Stars to cheer them on. Then again, she was publicly announced to the whole crowd so why wouldn't he overhear that? Eriol couldn't make it that night, and Yamakazi was with Chiharu as usual, but what was he doing here?  
  
"Is something the matter?"  
  
"Hm? Oh no. Nothing's wrong."  
  
"Hey, look, it's one of your friends waving at you."  
  
Sure enough, there was Tomoyo waving at her, happy and nervous as ever. For once, she wasn't the one who was holding the camera. Eriol pointed the camera her direction, and Sakura smiled nervously and wiggled her fingers at them. Eriol held a thumbs up to the one sitting next to her and turned back around to record the meet.  
  
'I wonder why he held a thumbs up at the captain. Oh well. Maybe it had to do with a secret greeting or something.'  
  
"So is your ankle getting better, Sakura?"  
  
"I think so. It seems to be okay so far. I tried running up and down the stairs yesterday, and it seemed fine as long as I didn't run too fast and trip over something on the way up."  
  
"That's good to hear. It's still good to soak it in baking soda and warm water to keep it from stiffening, though. I've heard that helps recovery go faster too."  
  
"Yeah, that's what my doctor told me."  
  
'"Oh, sorry if I sound like a doctor sometimes. I just got really interested in medics after I joined some gymnastics and had some pretty bad falls."  
  
"You fell?"  
  
Sakura couldn't believe it. Here was Mr. Perfect here, and he actually confessed to her that he fell before when doing gymnastics. Noticing her shocked expression, her companion sent her a friendly smile.  
  
"Of course. Every gymnist falls once in a while. It was when I was on the parallel bars. I missed a front somersault; it was a total wipeout."  
  
"Bummer. That must have really been the worst, not being able to practice again for a while. Even after you come back, you still feel like it's going to take you some time before you get back up again. I'm sorry, I'm just babbling as usual."  
  
"No, I know exactly what you're talking about. It was hard for me to get back to practice too. After I got better, I was still pretty scared about going back to the bars again."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I talked to my coach; he taught me to take ten deep breaths, count backwards from 100, try to see myself doing it right, stuff like that. It really helped me get back to practicing again."  
  
"Wow. Sounds so easy."  
  
Sakura turned her attention back to the meet. She felt guilty for talking to the captain of the other team this whole time and knew that she was going to get a really long lecture from Chiharu if she didn't watch the rest of the semifinal meet, regardless if she was talking to her new crush. Just then, she realized that she didn't know his name.  
  
"Um, can I ask you one last thing?"  
  
"Sure, go ahead."  
  
"Well, you know my name, but I didn't quite catch yours."  
  
"It's Ookami."  
  
"Oh. Well, it's nice to be formally introduced to you, Ookami."  
  
The meet was on it's second event, vaulting. Everyone had already gone, and it was Meilin's turn to vault. Meilin seemed to be filled with some confidence, but she stumbled on her landing and didn't make it stick so well. Not being able to stick the landing was one of the most common mistakes that was made. Every one of the Blue Stars did it in performance or practice including Chiharu. Captain and usually perfect as she was, she still stumbled every once in a while, but to Meilin, it looked like the end of the world as her painful score of 5.5 was posted up. Sakura cringed when she realized that Meilin's low scores put Hiyaku ahead.  
  
"Don't worry. You're friends will do just fine."  
  
Not only was Ookami a great friend to talk to, but he seemed to somehow be able to read her mind. Sakura stared at him in surprise that he knew what she was thinking. Ookami blushed from watching her stare at him so closely as Sakura turned away a bit pink in the face as well. Ookami cleared his throat and continued the conversation.  
  
"Besides, vaulting is Hiyaku's best event, and your friends are doing just fine, even without their strongest vaulter. If you ask me, the Blue Stars have more than just a chance at winning this meet."  
  
Suddenly, the ground started shaking and Sakura felt as though she were either going to go flying into the mat from where she was sitting or she was going to throw up her insides. Sakura felt shaky as her body reacted violently. Ookami turned toward her in confusion and helped her out of the building.  
  
"Sakura, are you alright?"  
  
"I'm not exactly sure. It feels like something is trying to take over me."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Before Ookami could ask any more questions, the ground started shaking again. Oddly enough, only Sakura seemed to be the one who could feel the earthquake as everything else seemed to stay in place. Just then, Sakura felt the presence of some sort of magic. It seemed to be neither good nor evil. After reassuring Ookami that she would take a breather and come back in later, Sakura went to check it out for herself when she met up her with her Guardian Yue. Yue's silvery hair, cold, sapphire eyes, and gigantic yet beautiful wings were shined upon by the moonlight, making him seem as though he were glowing a silver aura.  
  
"It's near by."  
  
Sakura nodded and tried to sense where this strange being of magic could be when she heard a tick-tock of a clock come near her feet. Sakura and Yue looked down to find an ordinary alarm clock that seemed to be taking a step for every second. When Sakura leaned over to pick it up, Yue quickly pushed her out of the way as if on instinct. However, the second his wings brushed by the clock, Sakura and Yue saw an explosion take place, burning a few feather tips of Yue's wings to a crisp. Yue began to fume when he saw a pathetic alarm clock scorch his lovely feathers that he preened so thoroughly.  
  
"That stupid clock is going to pay for this!"  
  
"Yue, calm down. We'll figure something out."  
  
Yue seemed a bit more calm as the clock continued its walk toward them. However, they found that no matter where they went, the clock only followed them around. Sakura tried to throw a water spell at it by calling out watery, but the clock burst into flames again and scorched watery as well. Sakura stared at it in slight alarm and hopelessness, but she decided to combine two cards to see if she can win.  
  
"Watery, Windy, work together to destroy the clock!"  
  
Watery and Windy devoured the clock and it seemed to have been defeated. When the steam cleared from the water, wind, and fire battle, the two cards returned to their original form and all that was left was the clock, slighty having some burned marks over it. Just as they thought it would be over, the clock's alarm went off and it was restored to full health again. Sakura gaped at the clock as she sweatdropped, and Yue just slapped his forehead in despair as the whole process began again. Sakura knew she was getting tired from using her magic so much.  
  
"I wish that Syaoran was here..."  
  
Just as she said that, Sakura shook her head furiously and bit her cheeks to keep from crying and blinding herself with her own tears. Sakura focused and tried to do something, but she couldn't figure out what to do. Just as she looked down, Sakura jumped up in the air with the jump card before the clock exploded into flames again from slightly touching her shoe. Luckily Sakura dodged most of it, but she started to fall out of the sky from the boost of the explosion and the scorching of the Jump card. Yue tried desperately to reach her, but the clock used its hands to pin him down to his spot.  
  
"Sakura!"  
  
Suddenly, a deep male voice was heard somewhere from far away as he seemed to be saying some sort of incantation. Then a quick swipe of the sword was heard.  
  
"Wind!"  
  
Sakura instantly slowed her falling until she reached a good enough height to flip off of the green wind cloud underneath her feet. Sakura whipped around her surroundings, instantly recognizing the aura of the one who had saved her. Sakura looked up to find a shadowy figure on top of the school's gymnasium who stood to peer at her for a quick moment and then disappeared in a flash. Sakura blinked in confusion just before whirling around to look for Yue.  
  
"Mistress, stay back. I can't let it hurt you too!"  
  
Sakura shook her head and smiled. That was Yue. Always trying to be the hero. Had he forgotten that Sakura was the Mistress of the cards and him? Sakura started walking closer to him and the clock while thinking of a strategy.  
  
'The clock only wants to hurt me. It's only holding Yue down. Yet, it's trying to kill me. Well, Watery and Windy worked a little, but there's gotta be something to clean it's clo... wait, that's it!'  
  
"Time!"  
  
It was clock versus clock, each battling each other. Sakura knew she would lose all her strength if this kept up. She thought of a good strategy so far, but she needed to enhance it, fast! Sakura thought hard about what made that clock tick.  
  
'If Watery and Windy didn't work, maybe I should fight fire with fire.'  
  
"Time card, reverse the clock's time to right before it heald itself! Firey, hit the clock as soon as Time is done with its job!"  
  
Time reversed the time for the clock only up to the point where it was badly scarred and charred (o yay! i did a rhyme! hehe... sorry for interrupting...) when Firey used its mighty flames to devour what was left of the clock. Soon the remains of the clock fell to the floor and soflty clattered onto the ground. Yue and Sakura waved goodbye as he headed back to where Yukito should have been. As she waved farewell to her moon guardian, Sakura started to recognize her heavy breathing and tried to regain her energy only to realize that she was much too tired to move or even stand. Sakura fell to the floor, too exhausted to move. Although she was conscious, her body didn't want to listen to her. Just as Sakura's vision became blurry from the tears of disappointment to not be able to watch the meet, the same shadowy figure came to her aid. Sakura could see the outline of his form as he murmured some sort of incantation in a low and hushed whisper that allowed Sakura to be healed. Then in a flash, he was gone again. Sakura sat up and looked after the mystery figure who left her; well, techincally, it wasn't a mystery who it was.  
  
"Syaoran..."  
  
"Sakura-san!"  
  
Sakura whispered his name into the winds of the night as a slight breeze made her shiver. Just then, Sakura realized who was calling her as Ookami stepped toward her and helped her back into the gymnasium. He helped her catch up with what just happened, and it was now the final event. Sakura crossed her fingers during the rest of the match, hoping and praying that her friends would win. Of course, she couldn't use magic to make them win because that just wouldn't be fair. Besides, they didn't need her help. The Blue Stars won and were now heading toward the district finals! Sakura went down to the locker room to congragulate her friends.  
  
"You guys did great!"  
  
"Thanks, but it would have been better if you were back, Sakura-chan."  
  
"Oh and would your happiness come from a certain somebody who was sitting next to you?"  
  
Chiharu eyed Sakura suspiciously as the rest of the girls from the locker room began to show great interest in what Sakura had to say. Sakura backed up a step or two and began to sweatdrop as she laughed nervously.  
  
"O-of course not, you guys."  
  
"Uh-huh. Sure, Sakura."  
  
Sakura sighed in defeat as her friends and she headed out the locker room to leave the gymnasium. On the way, Tomoyo pulled Sakura aside and asked her why she left in the middle of the meet, and Sakura explained everything that happened. Tomoyo was upset as usual for not being able to record her in action, but was satisfied when Sakura promised to have Yue do a solo narrating and have Kero exaggerate it. Sakura and Tomoyo walked out of the gymnasium together. Sakura set herself into a deep concentrating while repeating the advice Ookami gave her.  
  
'Maybe if I follow his advice, I'll be back to my fearless self in no time!'  
  
The five partners linked arms and decided to go to Baskin Robbins. Besides, little did Tomoyo know that everyone else knew that Eriol was working the late shift that night... 


	4. Disappointment & Grief

Blame It On Sakura  
  
Kristy Selean: Hi!! I'm so sorry that this chapter took me forever!! I've been up to a lot of stories and basically doing more research for school stuff.... bleh!! Ok, well, it was winter break when I posted this and it still might be when you're reading it. Ok, anyways, you probably don't want to hear me jabbering about, so I give you the long awaited Chapter 4!  
  
Chapter 4: Disappointment & Grief  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"I'm positive, Sakura-chan."  
  
Sakura sighed as the bell rang, announcing the start of the last period. Sakura pondered over the incident from the night before. If it wasn't Eriol, who else could it be? Sakura knew that nobody was as strong as she or Eriol was except... then again, why would he save her if he started the problem in the beginning? Besides, wasn't it bad enough that he left her behind, never to talk to her again?  
  
"Class, I know you're sick of the same old book reports everytime, so I decided that we should do a composition instead."  
  
The classroom filled up with groans, sighs, and whining as soon as the announcement was made. Not everyone was complaining, however. Some were excited, some didn't really care, and some were, well... asleep.  
  
"Relax, I promise you it will be a lot easier. All you have to do is write up to two pages on a difficult experience you've had, and what you have learned from it."  
  
'Leave it up to Taretu-sensei to come up with something like this. Ugh! He knows I hate writing compositions.'  
  
Soon enough, the English lecture of the day ended and the bell rang, announcing the end of school. Sakura's classmates hopped out of their seats while the sleepyheads of the classroom were reaching for their alarm clocks that just didn't happen to be there. Of course, everyone knows that the easiest way to get busted was to pull on the girl's hair in hopes of turning off the "alarm clock." Unfortunately, Yamakazi ended up pulling Chiharu's hair as she was packing up by using this method, earning a slap from his girlfriend and a full week's lunch detention with the teacher. Sakura ran out of the classroom, nervously grabbed her things from the locker, and ran out the school's main entrance only to bump into someone whom she didn't know was there.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I just..."  
  
"Sakura-chan. What a nice surprise seeing you here!"  
  
Sakura looked up to meet the gaze of someone whose voice she instantly recognized and smiled with a flush of embarrasment on her face.  
  
"Ookami."  
  
"Hey, Sakura..."  
  
Tomoyo saw that Sakura was a little busy with someone else. At first she frowned after studying each of their expressions, but soon curled it into a smile. Tomoyo joined in the conversation until it was time to go home to prepare for Sakura's first practice. Tomoyo and Sakura walked home to gather their things for practice and the after practice homework club.  
  
*~* Sakura's Room *~*  
  
Sakura dropped her bag and jumped onto the bed, almost flattening a tail who's owner was reading the instructions to his newest video game. Kero jerked his tail away just in time to have only one hair get plucked from Sakura's sudden landing on the bed. The Guardian Beast of the Seal stared at his "beautiful tail" and started to wail when he realized he was missing a single strand of hair.  
  
"Sakura!! Look what you did to my precious tail!!!"  
  
"It looks fine to me."  
  
"I'm missing a strand of hair!!"  
  
"Oh brother. Kero, just be glad I didn't squish your instruction booklet."  
  
Kero immediately jumped and grabbed the instructions and held them tightly, ready to defend it against anything and everything. Sakura sighed, rolled her eyes, and smiled before waving a bit of magic at Kero, causing the booklet to fly on its own, dragging Kero with it across the ceiling. When Sakura got tired from laughing at Kero's shrill screeches, Sakura waved again and let the booklet come back down on her bed with a wind-blown Kero still clutching onto it for dear life.  
  
"Clow never did that to me! He never dared to!!!"  
  
"Yeah, but Clow never gave you pudding either."  
  
Kero sighed and bowed his head in defeat as Sakura became deep in her thoughts. Kero flew up to her and asked what was bothering her when Sakura explained about the night before. Kero knew that he had been sleeping all day yesterday and Sakura doesn't try to wake him up after what he did last time to Touya when he tried to... Touya's finger was swollen for a week and the teeth marks probably still remained on his poor index finger that he used to poke Kero with.  
  
"That's not all of it. The news gets even more complicating."  
  
"How?"  
  
"He came back..."  
  
Kero sighed as he sat Indian style while still floating in the air, crossing his arms, and furrowing his eyebrows into a frustrated state. Sakura stared down at the patterns on her bed while she thought of the times that he had saved her that night. From the wind to catch her that he oftenly did in the nick of time whenever they were capturing cards and then healing her which she had never seen him do until that night. All of these events flooded back into Sakura and made her sad, happy, and just confused at the same time. She was happy to see him again, sad that she knew he would never be with her, and confused as to why he ever came back in the beginning. Then there was Ookami. He reminded her of Syaoran just a bit, but upon closer look, his eyes were not amber, but a very dark brown, almost being black. He acted just as Syaoran use to before heading off back to China.  
  
"Syaoran..."  
  
*~* Flashback *~*  
  
"Sakura-san, remember when I told you how I felt?"  
  
"Yes, Li-kun. I've made up my mind. I realized that I do care about you in the same way."  
  
"I see."  
  
Syaoran turned his head away from her and bit his lip with a deep look of concentration on his face. Sakura watched him with great anxiety, not knowing what to expect. Weren't people suppose to be happy if you liked them back?  
  
"Sakura-san, there's something I need to tell you."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I'm going back to China."  
  
Sakura's shocked expression of horror ran all across her face as she broke out into a cold sweat. Here she was, expecting a good answer after having to cry her eyes out for so many days after she heard the news, and he's leaving her?  
  
"But why?"  
  
"Family business."  
  
"Are you sure it's not a mistake? I mean, the last time you said that, you stayed."  
  
"Last time, strange things still happened. Now, everything is solved, and you have Eriol to help you if something goes wrong again."  
  
"Then at least tell me the truth as to why you're leaving."  
  
Syaoran was surprised she saw through it. He didn't expect her to have a feeling about it at all, considering she was still naive yet loveable. Syaoran was going to be ashamed, and he knew it. He turned his head toward the horizon one las time before facing Sakura directly in the eyes. Syaoran braced Sakura by putting his hands on her shoulders, making her startled.  
  
"Sakura..."  
  
*~* End of Flashback *~*  
  
'I don't want to think about it... Still, it keeps coming back.'  
  
'Sakura, I'm going to China because I have to marry Meilin. After I'm married, I can no longer communicate with you. I'm sorry.'  
  
Sakura's eyes started to swell up with tears, but she immediately shunned them away. When Kero noticed that his mistress was going through the memories again, he flew by her side and gave her a hug in hopes of cheering her up. This only made Sakura start to break down and get even worse. Sakura eventually started to shed her tears silently as Kero patted her shoulders in an effort to comfort her.  
  
"I wish I knew how to cast a spell to make you forget about him, Sakura. I'm sorry. Some help I turned out to be. I can guard your body from harm, but your heart is vulnerable no matter what I try to do."  
  
"You've done all you can, Kero, and I'm grateful for every minute you've spent beside me."  
  
Kero continued to comfort his mistress as her tears dried up, and she started to calm down as the minutes passed by.  
  
'Damn you, Chinese gaki! If you ever meet me face-to-face ever again, I swear you'll never see the light of day ever again!'  
  
(I'm sorry I had to cuss there. I really didn't want to, but the effect was necessary. I guess you can tell I'm not usually the type of person to ever cuss.... ok, back to where we were.)  
  
*~* At Practice *~*  
  
"You nervous?"  
  
"Why would you say that, Tomoyo?"  
  
"I don't know. I just thought it would be hard to go back after that fall and all."  
  
Sakura slammed her gymn locker shut, still ignoring Tomoyo who was by her side. She then stared straight ahead and turned to her friend with serious and focused eyes.  
  
"I'm not one bit nervous."  
  
"Well, I would be."  
  
"I'm not you!"  
  
Sakura snapped at her best friend. As she saw the hurt expression on Tomoyo's face, Sakura instantly felt sorry and ashamed for what she said. Then slowly, she realized that truly, she was nervous and scared. Terrified to be exact.  
  
"Tomoyo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It's just, it's hard..."  
  
"I understand. Don't worry, Sakura. I'm sure you'll be just fine."  
  
"Me too."  
  
Sakura knew she was lying and so did Tomoyo. Sakura could only hope she could hide that from her best friend and pray that the advice that Ookami gave her would work. The two friends walked out of the locker room and headed toward the mat where the others were waiting for them. Everyone smiled back at her, even Meilin. Sakura just wanted everything to go back to normal when Syaoran's name was nonexistant, she was perfectly in shape and was one of the stars of the team, and when she wasn't... afraid. Sakura knew that would be impossible, especially when the cousin/fiancee of the one she happened to fear and dread was standing right in front of her.  
  
"Alright, ladies. It's good to have Sakura back! Finally, a practice with our little Blue Star, but with a little bit of practice, our razzle-dazzle Sakura-chan's gonna get back on her feet again. Let's get it going with the stretches! Oh yes, and Sakura, please, nothing fancy until I'm positive nothing can happen, okay?"  
  
"Word of honor!"  
  
Somehow, Sakura knew that wasn't going to be a hard promise to keep. Everyone took their place on the mat. Sakura notcied that Meilin took a seat beside her. As they went through their series of backbends and leg stretches, Sakura was breathing hard and was getting tired. Normally she'd feel great when it was over, but now, Sakura just felt sore all over.  
  
"Alright. Now let's go over the group floor routine."  
  
Everyone became serious. This routine was played to "The Blue Danube Waltz" and was quite challenging with lots of switch-leaps and triple turns. As the tinkling notes started to play, Chiharu counted off the three counts and then they sprang into action. It may have been Sakura's imagination, but she thought that she felt a twinge in her ankle just then. She went into her first move: a simple walkover into a flic-flac, or a back handstand. She was feeling a bit shaky, but she felt okay. However, during her next set of combinations, Sakura's heart jumped, and she felt terrified.  
  
'What if I don't do the pirouette right? What if I fall and hurt my back or even break a leg or two? What if I crash on my head?'  
  
Sakura came out of that combination with barely an excuse for a leap and landed with a thud almost to her knees. Flustered, Sakura went into her pirouette and started her series of double-turns (spinning around twice on one leg). During the whole routine, Sakura couldn't think about anything but falling. It seemed ridiculous, but she couldn't help it. By the time the routine was over, Sakura knew that her performance had been horrible. Sakura looked up pleadingly to Sonomi; if she scolded her now, she'd fall apart. Her teammates stared at her in clear dismay while Meilin stared at her, compeltely confused.  
  
"Not bad, Sakura. Not great, but not bad. But tell me, why did you cut out the backward salto-triple twist combination in the end?"  
  
"I don't know. My ankle started to feel kinda funny. Like it's tingling or something."  
  
"Really? Maybe you should sit down then. I don't want to aggravate it."  
  
"No, it's okay. I want to go as far as I can today."  
  
"Okay, then let's go over to the beam. Sakura, why don't you go first?"  
  
Sakura started to get very very nervous as she mounted the beam. It seemed like a long way down. Sakura reminded herself that it was only four feet, but standing on a narrow piece of wood made it look like a lot higher than what it was. First, Sakura did a simple forward jump. Her heartbeat sped up as she decided to do her next move. Next, she did a forward walkover. It was a simple move, but as soon as she was upside-down, Sakura's heart jumped in her throat. Her knees felt like Jell-o, and she knew she must look awful, but she forced herself to count backward from 100 to relieve herself a bit. As soon as it was time for a flic-flac, Sakura started shaking all over and barely managed to go through it. Sakura stretched her arms out gracefully and lifted her leg into an arabesque, but the shaking was really fierce.  
  
"Sakura, are you okay up there?"  
  
"I don't know. My ankle's starting to throb again."  
  
"Then you'd better come down."  
  
"Maybe I should go home to rest it."  
  
"That's a good idea. Meilin, why don't you get up and Tomoyo spot her. Sakura, do you need a ride?"  
  
"No, it's okay. I can ride the bus or have Touya drive me home."  
  
Sakura walked out of the gymn, grabbed her things and stepped outside. She saw it; she saw it all - the worried faces of her friends, Meilin's confusion, and Sonomi's disappointment. She didn't need anymore torture. Just as she walked toward the bus stop, Sakura's ankle became wobbly again and Sakura fell to the ground. Realizing that she skimmed her knee on the sidewalk, Sakura started searching in her gymn bag for some tissues or anything else that could be used to stop the bleeding. She knew at this rate, she'd never get home. Suddenly, someone handed her a green handkerchief. Sakura looked up and found her friend of fourth grade standing in front of her, ready to assist when she needed help. Sakura's eyes filled up with tears as she felt his green aura again, shining right in front of her, willingly assisting to help her. Syaoran helped tie the handkerchief on her knee and carried her home on his back. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder and cried. After all that they've been through and even after that dramatic ending of their chances of being together, he was still there for her even though he was only as a close friend. (hm... Now we can change that. ^-^) Sakura couldn't find a way to make it up to him. She just continued to cry on his shoulder and barely managed to whisper her thanks to him.  
  
"Arigato, Syaoran-kun."  
  
Syaoran flinched slightly at hearing her response, but answered back in a low whisper.  
  
"Your welcome."  
  
He continued his walk, carrying her down the block while people stared at the two close friends. It seemed amazing that even though they were sad, they seemed happy together. Syaoran didn't say a word, even when they reached her house. Syaoran carried Sakura as he climbed up the tree nearest to her window and helped her through there. Kero was a bit surprised to find his beloved mistress on that gaki's back, clutching him as he managed to get through the window without disturbing her mourning session. Syaoran's movements were swift, smooth, and accurate as usual. Kero changed himself to his beast-like self and helped Sakura get into bed. As soon as Syaoran started to leave, Sakura and he exchanged a glance just before he started to leap out of the window.  
  
"Syaoran, wait."  
  
Syaoran stopped in his tracks but didn't bother to turn around. It was his usual treatment to those he didn't talk with very often.  
  
"Why did you come back?"  
  
Syaoran sighed in defeat. He was trying not to talk to Sakura again, but for what reason, Sakura didn't know. He still had his back to her, facing the window in which Sakura could see his reflection. He looked frustrated yet satisfied, mad yet content, and all the other oxymorons of feelings kept within him. Overall, he looked... emotionless.  
  
"The same reason as the last time."  
  
Before Sakura could ask him any more questions, he was already out the window and two blocks away. Sakura sighed and stared a the ceiling. The last time Syaoran stayed in Japan was when those weird things have been happening. Sakura started counting the bumps on the ceiling while her mind started floating back to her birthday during the incidents of Clow's magic.  
  
*~* Flashback *~*  
  
"Come on, Li-kun. You have to give it to her some day and hopefully this year."  
  
Syaoran was being dragged by Yamakazi and Eriol toward the cherry blossom tree that everyone was under and giving Sakura her birthday presents. They were giving it to her now because she was going out to dinner with her family and Yukito. Sakura saw them coming and waved to her three friends who then stopped dragging Syaoran, knowing that he'll come with them peacefully now that Sakura has noticed him. Syaoran sat down in the circle of friends as Sakura opened her presents one by one.  
  
"Rika-chan! Thank you!"  
  
Sakura hugged her friend for giving her the white sun hat with a pink bow that tied some cherry blossoms onto her hat. Sakura put it carefully away in the hat box before opening tomoyo's present. The whole gang sweatdropped as Sakura pulled out... a nightgown. Tomoyo explained that Sakura would look kawaii in it, and that the color suited her well. Sakura thanked Tomoyo for her thoughtfulness and found one last package left. She couldn't really tell who got it for her, but decided to open the tiny box and see for herself. The whole gang gasped as they saw what was inside: a necklace of a gold chain, light pink cherry blossoms made from rare stones, and emeralds making the leaves. Sakura gasped and looked up to see the blushing Syaoran.  
  
"Li-kun... Are you sure I can take this? It looks so expensive."  
  
"It's no problem, but if you don't like it..."  
  
Before Syaoran could say another word, Sakura already pounced on him and was hugging him closely. All her friends were commenting with aww's, whistles, and catcalls while Syaoran was turning crimson red from embarrassment, not to mention Sakura choking him so hard.  
  
"Sa.. Sakura-san.."  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"I'm... choking..."  
  
"Nani?!"  
  
Sakura instantly let go of her friend while the others laughed at how kawaii the couple appeared to be. Tomoyo was recording every moment of it, the girls were planning out their wedding, and Yamakazi and Eriol were betting how many kids they would have in the future.  
  
*~*  
  
'He's changed again. He's back to his quiet self before everything happened, but he's still showing some signs of emotions... It's like he's hiding himself in something, but what is it?'  
  
Sakura heaved a sigh before starting to think about her own problems. About gymnastics, what was she going to do? The next match was going to be soon. Was it possible that she could no longer be a Blue Star? Sakura shuddered at the thought and tried to shake it out of her mind. Sakura propped herself on the bed and stared at the emerald green handkercheif around her knee. Wrapped with care and precision, his aura was still able to be sensed from it.  
  
'I wonder how I can take care of it. It's still going to be stained when I give it back or it might be in an even worse condition. Wait a sec... how am I suppose to even give it back?'  
  
Sakura sighed. He could help her, but she couldn't help him. It was just like this in the past. Now she knew how Syaoran felt. She had to do all the work, seal the cards, and fight the top guys, but he couldn't even help her. Either that or his attempts did little to her advantage. Then Sakura thought about her ankle. She knew that it wasn't her ankle that was hurting her. It was her. Her! Sakura Kinomoto was afraid! And what was worse, Ookami's advice didn't help her one bit. Sakura dropped her head back in the pillows.  
  
'What am I going to do now? The district championships is only 2 week away! Oh, Kami, help me!'  
  
Sakura groaned and turned over in bed. There just HAD to be a way back to her old life. There just had to be...  
  
to be continued... 


	5. Cheer Up Sakura!

Blame It On Sakura  
  
Kristy Selean: Yes, depressing until now!!! I've got a new chapter up and yeah... as you can see, it's all about cheering up Sakura! It is sad in the end... gomen!!! If you were wondering about Syaoran, he does show up in this chapter, and you get to read his thoughts once! As for whether or not he's married... you'll have to wait... still need to get that into the fic...  
  
Chapter 5: Cheer up, Sakura!  
  
It had been about ten minutes since Sakura came back home. Sakura was trying to sleep, but her thoughts about everything still continued to scare her to do death. Sakura sat up in bed and heaved yet another sigh. Her day had been horrible. Sakura watched while Kero played his video game. He was kind enough to put the headphones on so she couldn't hear the music, but his continuous outbursts really didn't help cutting that out.  
  
"Noooooooo!!!!!!! How dare you!!!!!!!!"  
  
Sakura shook her head. That was probably his fifth time in those ten minutes that he died by the same person. Just then, the door opened and an all too familiar face walked in the room. Sakura frowned and turned her face away as he sat on the bed.  
  
"Can't you knock?"  
  
Sakura crossed her arms while her visitor winced. He never heard his sister act so crossly. Whatever happened to his sweet and kind hearted sister who always greeted everyone with a smile?  
  
'Probably taken away because of that gaki!' thought Touya.  
  
"Sheesh, don' be so cross. Besides, it wasn't my idea to come here. Otousan sent me."  
  
"So what does he want?"  
  
"Well... he... wanted me to cheer you up."  
  
Sakura raised an eyebrow at her brother. He came down from all of his part- time jobs and his college classes and work to come over to her room and cheer her up?  
  
"And... exactly how are you going to do that?"  
  
Sakura's tone was still demanding, but it softened. Touya leaned back on the bed and thought before an idea had crept its way to his mind. Sakura didn't really like the look of a smile on Touya's face, but she was thankful it was a soft one.  
  
"You can cook for me."  
  
"Cooking for YOU is going to cheer ME up?"  
  
"Hey, why not? I might even give you a few compliments or even a few tips this time. Besides, the simplest things can always find a way to cheer you up."  
  
Sakura sighed, knowing that there was no way out of this. Her psychic brother and father have always freaked her out in some way or another. She might as well just do it. Sakura and Touya left Kero to his game as they went down to the kitchen to start the cooking.  
  
"And what would you like today?"  
  
"Hm... I think I'll try the house specialty of hot cakes."  
  
"1 batch of hot cakes coming up."  
  
Sakura giggled at their little restaraunt game while Touya started looking for the dishes and eating utinsels. Sakura pulled out the flour, eggs, sugar, and some other ingredients while Touya grabbed the syrup, butter, forks, knives, plates, and napkins. After a few minutes, Sakura was done, and Touya began to eat.  
  
"Your technique has been getting better and faster over the years, Sakura. Let me guess. You've been getting up late for school still?"  
  
"Hey! Well... yeah... kinda... actually..."  
  
"Tsk tsk. Colleges don't like that, you know. You've got to take naps in between if you can't get up in the morning. It's a good habit to break."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Besides, aren't you suppose to be judging my cooking now?"  
  
"It's good, but if you really want to make it better, here are some tips. When cooking it, if you add a pinch of let's say cream to it, it gives it a milkier taste."  
  
Touya started pulling out some other ingredients from the cabinets and started making another batch. After he put the ingredients in and saw that the mixture was correct, Sakura finished them off by cooking them.  
  
"Oh, and make sure that when you cook it, don't use too much vegetable oil. Try spraying it with a light layer of cooking oil instead of putting vegetable oil instead. That way, you get the creamy taste, the less oily feel, and the slight bit of the margarin and yeast powder I put in the mixture will make it fluffy and soft."  
  
Sakura followed his instructions until there was enough hot cakes that even Kero couldn't resist sniffing out. Kero flew down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen to inhale his batch of hot cakes. Sakura flicked a bit of magic to make him freeze in place while Touya laughed along with her. Kero struggled to get to the pancakes at whatever cost, but was too helpless to break free of the spell. This is where the torturing session began.  
  
"Mmm. This has got to be the best hot cakes ever, oniichan!"  
  
"You bet! I learned it from Yukito, so it has to be a good recipe."  
  
"To bad Kero-chan can't join us."  
  
"Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
After torturing him for five more minutes, Sakura released him of his spell, and Kero was rewarded with a new 10 batches of hot cakes made by Touya himself. Sakura smiled as she watched them fight over the last hot cake.  
  
'Oniichan was right. The simplest things really can cheer you up.'  
  
Just as Sakura sliced the hot cake in half for the two to share, the phone rang. Touya, who took his half of the hot cake with him, grabbed the phone as Sakura washed her hands and Kero practically breathed in his last half.  
  
"Moshi moshi. Kinomoto Hot Cakes. Deliveries are free."  
  
"Touya-san? What are you doing there?" Tomoyo giggled at his unusual greeting.  
  
"Eh... I got hungry. I'll get her. Kaijuu! Get the phone."  
  
"I'm not a kaijuu!!!"  
  
Sakura shook her head as she walked past a smiling Touya. He knew she was just going back to old times, and she wasn't seriously angry. Touya started to clean up the kitchen so he could go back to college and the professors' lengthy lectures. In other words, he was cleaning up as slowly as possible.  
  
"Hai."  
  
"Sakura-chan. Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura answered in a subdued voice.  
  
"Is your ankle any better?"  
  
"It still hurts a little, but it should be better tomorrow, I think."  
  
"Well, I just wanted to tell you that the homework club got put off until tomorrow because tomorrow is a half day from the city teachers' conference. We're going to Rika's house, then Basking Robbins, and then on to practice."  
  
"Yeah, alright. Besides, homework always goes better with ice cream and Eriol, right, Tomoyo?"  
  
"Sakuraaaaaaaa!!!!!!!"  
  
Sakura could just see it now. Tomoyo clutching the phone and glowing as red as the Christmas lights with the people who were cleaning up the house suddenly frozen from her unknown behavior. With this picture in mind, Sakura couldn't suppress her laughter.  
  
"Anyway, we didn't want to have the meeting without you, Sakura."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Well, get lots of rest, and I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye!"  
  
"Yeah, see you later. Bye!"  
  
Sakura hung up the phone and glared at a staring Touya who was frowing as though he was in great confusion. Touya shook his head before putting away the things on the table.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's... nothing. It's just that you and Tomoyo usually talk on the phone for hours. I was just wondering if you two got in a fight or something. Just now, you didn't even sound like you wanted to talk to her."  
  
"I guess we just got a lot on our minds with the meet coming up and all."  
  
"Sakura, don't worry. You're the best gymnast that I've ever known."  
  
"I'm the only gymnast that you've ever known, but thanks. If only I could believe in myself again."  
  
Touya frowned at Sakura's expressions. He knew when his sister had troubles, and this was definitely the time. Kero must have felt the same. He was staring at Sakura with the same expression Touya had. Sakura couldn't bear it. She understood they were trying to make her feel better, but it was only making them feel worse.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"I'm going to practice in the basement. Thanks for everything, Touya."  
  
Touya nodded and managed to pull together a small smile across his face. Sakura smiled back before heading down the stairs to the basement, leaving Touya and Kero to argue over who's going to wash the dishes.  
  
*~*  
  
Sakura grabbed a CD player and a random CD off of her desk before heading down to the basement. It was frustrating at a time like this, and she knew that exercise was a great stress reliever. Sakura plugged in the CD player and turned on the CD to start practicing some floor routines. There were a lot of mats on the floor, and that was what the basement gymn really was - a padded section of the basement in which Sakura practiced her gymnastics. The music started and the song Never Give Up Until the End started to play.  
  
\Things get tough, but life keeps going. There's just no place to stop.\  
  
Sakura kicked herself into a couple of roundoffs before starting her flic- flacs and a twist kick before landing on her two feet. The kick really wasn't gymnastics, but it followed the mood of the song.  
  
\As things get harder, harder still, you just want give it up and drop.\  
  
Sakura sent herself into some more flic-flacs followed by a couple of leaps, turns, and tumbles. Sweat streaked down her face as Sakura gave it every effort she had. She couldn't stop. This was the only time her heart wouldn't stop her from doing what she wanted.  
  
\Just close your eyes and then you'll see just how great of a person that you can be.\  
  
Sakura let the mood sink in around her. It was like a dream. She felt lighter than a feather doing her varioius gymnastics moves, and nothing could stop her. The music helped lift her spirits as well. Sakura closed her eyes and tried imagining herself doing these great moves on a balance beam in front of a wild crowd. That's when she saw it. Thud! Crash! All she could see was herself falling or hurting herself. Sakura started to panic. She gasped for air and stopped her routine completely.  
  
\Just don't panic.\  
  
'Too late.'  
  
\Do your best.\  
  
'I already did, and I still can't get over it.'  
  
\And follow your heart.\  
  
'I can't. I'm too scared.'  
  
The music faded away as Sakura hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms. It was too much. Was Touya right? Had she been a great gymnast? And could she be that way again, or were those days gone forever?  
  
'Why? Why me?'  
  
Tears streaked down her face and started to create a puddle near her. Sakura cried softly and trembled from her cries. Just as she thought the world was over, a comforting hand was placed on her shoulder. It was him again.  
  
'Syaoran... You're always there when I need you.'  
  
The tinkling notes of another song began to play. Sakura didn't pay attention to it really until the singer's soft and soothing voice took over the setting of the room. Its gentleness made Sakura's cries softer as Syaoran kneeled by her side.  
  
\What can I do? I always need you. Don't turn me away. I need you today. Hold me tight; don't let me go. Let me breath again; comfort me so.\  
  
Sakura cried on Syaoran's shoulder while he patted her back in comfort. Syaoran pulled her into an embrace as Sakura's tears started to dry up. It felt nice to be embraced and to feel warm, even in the most difficult of situations.  
  
'Sakura, I wish I could only do more for you.'  
  
\Your care is enough to let me go, to free myself and to let myself flow. But for me to soar, then I need to know if you really love me so.\  
  
After a few minutes in the embrace, Sakura pulled away to look into Syaoran's eyes. They were so deep and so comforting that she could have lost herself in them. Sakura snapped back into reality only to be dragged into a deeper stage of thought as Syaoran kissed her forehead.  
  
'I can't believe I just did that!'  
  
'I can't believe he just did that!'  
  
"Syaoran..."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"A-arigato."  
  
Syaoran nodded back in response. Sakura was flushed, half from working out so hard and half from Syaoran. Sakura looked over at the CD player and unplugged it before walking out of the basement with the CD in her hands and Syaoran helping her. Just as they reached the basement door, Sakura froze.  
  
"Syaoran, how did you get in here?"  
  
Syaoran only nodded to an open window while Sakura nodded back in acknowledgement. As soon as Sakura stepped out through the door, Syaoran jumped back through the window and disappeared again. Sakura went to her room where Kero comforted her the rest of the day.  
  
'Syaoran, I owe you so much. You've done so much for me, but I could never find a way to help you. I only wish I could get better so at least I could dedicate my performance to you. Even if you may be married to Meilin, as long as you're my friend, I can live with it.'  
  
to be continued...  
  
Kristy Selean: Yes, yes, I know. You're all going to hate me for that... Well, at least I managed to do an s+s scene, right? ....right? Well, about the songs that were used, they are NONEXISTANT so please don't ask me for them. I just made it up as I went along. If you need them, ask for it in your reviews, and I'll make up the rest of the lyrics to give to you for no reason at all... Oh yeah, another note, please please review! I don't mind if you try to flame me as long as it's constructive, and I wish that some of yo would actually criticize me for once so I could get some help! Oh well... Thanks for reading. Ja ne. 


	6. Shattering Friendships

Blame It On Sakura  
  
Kristy Selean: yay! I finally updated! I'm so sorry for everyone who had to wait really long, but I promise the next chapter will be even better. Oh, and I was suppose to show what's up with Syaoran in this chapter, but it didn't turn out very well, so he won't show up until the next one. Sorry! Oh yeah, this chapter's another sad one, so... gomen for that too... Oh, one more thing to be sorry for. Chiharu is OOC(out of character) in this too. I know, too many things to apologize about. Still, I hope it's okay.  
  
Chapter 6: Shattering Friendships  
  
Sakura opened up her book on the table where everyone was sitting. It was in the afternoon when the Blue Stars homework club began. Sakura engrossed herself with her math problems, doing her best to solve each one when a conversation started.  
  
"So, Sakura, how's your ankle?"  
  
Sakura continued on with her math problems without letting her eyes meet up with Chiharu who was waiting for an answer.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
Chiharu gave Sakura a questioning look. Sakura felt annoyed as everyone turned to watch her respond. Sakura tried to push her anger out of her way before answering them back.  
  
"Yeah. I'm feeling much better."  
  
"Good, because the next match is less than two weeks."  
  
Chiharu flashed Sakura smile while Sakura sighed in annoyance. Couldn't Chiharu tell that Sakura was just as worried about it if not more than she was?  
  
"Why can't you just leave anything alone."  
  
Sakura didn't mean for Chiharu to hear that, but it was too late. Chiharu flushed a bright red shade, perfectly unnatural even for Yamazaki to see when he lied.  
  
"Sakura!"  
  
Tomoyo lowered her head and pretended to be searching through her purse while Rika hummed awkwardly under her breath. Sakura knew they were both trying to ignore the situation. She stared down at her notebook. Sakura knew she should apologize, but she didn't want to; Chiharu was always bossing people around especially about gymnastics.  
  
'It's okay for Chiharu to be totally focused on gymnastics, but does that mean that she has to act like everyone else should be too?'  
  
"Look, Sakura. I'm not trying to nag you or anything, but I really want us to be ready. Besides, it's the district championship we're talking about here!"  
  
'As if I could forget that.'  
  
"Well, Chiharu, I'm getting better as fast as I can, okay?"  
  
Sakura tried to make it sound like a joke, but by the looks on her friends' faces, she could tell that she sounded angry with them. Chiharu was flushed even more, and Tomoyo and Rika were looking down on the floor.  
  
"Besides, if I don't get better, you still have Meilin."  
  
"Meilin is not the same as you."  
  
Chiharu pursed her lips into a deep frown while Sakura scowled at her math homework. A few days ago, she would have been glad to hear that, but now it was only putting more pressure on her.  
  
"Meilin's a pretty good gymnast."  
  
"But she's inexperienced in competition."  
  
"So were we when we started out," Sakura retorted. "What's so wrong about just giving her a chance?"  
  
"I wasn't being hard on her. I just said that she was inexperienced."  
  
"That's not what it sounded like to me."  
  
"Well, that's what I meant. Anyway, I thought you were the one who didn't like Meilin."  
  
Sakura could tell that Chiharu was really mad this time. Her cheeks were bright red from frustration and anger, and her voice was up at the same time.  
  
"I never said that."  
  
"You acted like it."  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"You guys, there's no need to get angry here."  
  
"No one's getting angry, Tomoyo. I just wanted to know what's going on. Why are you being so defensive?"  
  
Chiharu stared at Sakura who eyed her back. It wasn't fair. Why was she pin-pointing her. They were such close friends before. What did she do to deserve this? Maybe doing the routine, but still, wasn't friendship suppose to last beyond mistakes?  
  
"I'm not being defensive."  
  
"Well, it seemed like it to me."  
  
"Maybe I wouldn't seem like it if you'd stop nagging me."  
  
"Look, all I want to know is are you going to be ready for the district chamionships or not?"  
  
Sakura suddenly felt hot and cold all over. How could she possibly answer that question. She never learned healing magic so that wasn't possible. Even with it, Kero said that it could only heal to give energy. Muscles were out of the question and so was fear.  
  
"I'll be ready."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Now will you just leave me alone?"  
  
Sakura muttered before going back to her math homework to finish her last problem. Chiharu's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something when Tomoyo interrupted.  
  
"We're going to practice in two hours now. Don't you think we've had enough talking about gymnastics, already?"  
  
"Yeah, we'd better start our homework. We haven't gotten much done so far."  
  
Rika pleaded along with Tomoyo. Sakura tossed a glare in Chiharu's direction before giving in her answer.  
  
"Fine with me."  
  
Chiharu stayed silent. Tomoyo paired up with Sakura to study their vocabulary for their quiz as Rika and Chiharu started on their book reports.  
  
"Catacomb."  
  
"Um... A comb for cats?"  
  
"Sakura!"  
  
Tomoyo giggled at Sakura's answer. Sakura wasn't the type for vocabulary even though her math skills may have gone up a little since fourth grade.  
  
"Catacomb is an underground vault or cemetery."  
  
"Yech!" Sakura made a face. "I like my definition better."  
  
"Well, here's the next word. Trepidation."  
  
"Trepidation. Fear, alarm, dread."  
  
Sakura had no problem remembering that word. Since the day that Taretu- sensei read it outloud in class, it stuck to her like glue. No wonder! Sakura stole a glance at Chiharu. She told her she'd be ready, but what if it turned out to be a lie? Practice was going to be in a two hours. Unless Sakura found a way to get over her fear of falling, it was going to ruin her life!  
  
*~*  
  
"All right, ladies. It's time to do some pushups."  
  
The whole Blue stars team groaned and grunted while fulfilling that task. Even Meilin joined in their grumbles, but they soon finished their workout for that. Sakura felt that the pushups were hard, but she felt good when doing them too. The Blue Stars finished their ice-cream at Thirty-two before coming to practice. Sakura and Chiharu were pretty strained on each other, but Sakura knew that one thing was different--she was determined not to choke this time.  
  
"All right. Now that we're done with the stretches, let's go to the bars."  
  
The five ladies went to the opposite side of the gymn. Tomoyo was the first to mount. Sakura went underneath to spot her, despite her nervousness. Tomoyo flashed her a smile and took off on a running leap to the lower bar. Despite her worries, Sakura started to relax as Tomoyo performed. Tomoyo was, after all, usually shy, but on the bars, Tomoyo totally came out of her shell. She even looked different from the way she moved to her facial expression.  
  
'Like a graceful bird,' thought Sakura as Amber nailed a backward flip and went into a smooth hang glide kip. The only place Tomoyo wasn't so sure on was her landing; she came out of it too early and staggered as she hit the mat.  
  
"Pretty good, Tomoyo, except..."  
  
"I know, I know, Mom."  
  
Tomoyo stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes in a playful expression. Eriol would have loved to see that...  
  
"My landing... I could land a round-off dismount, but I can't do something as easy as a straddle kip dismount."  
  
"Don't worry, Tomoyo. Every gymnast is different in their abilities. Just chip away at the problem until you've got it fixed."  
  
'That sounds like good advice for me too.'  
  
Sakura took note of Sonomi's words before she noticed that she was looking at her. Sakura bit her lip and nodded as she made her way for the bars. Tomoyo moved under them to spot her, and Sakura raced forward. As she swung up to grab the bars, she felt pure exhilaration course through her veins. After all, Sakura hadn't used her body like this since the accident. Speaking of which, the same panicky feeling came back to her as she did a clear hip circle to the top bar. Sakura focused her concentration on her body, but it started to get harder to breathe.  
  
'Ten deep breaths, count backwards from one hundred, don't keep blaming yourself, take it one step at a time...'  
  
Sakura ran the bits an pieces of advice through her mind as she focused herself into a deep concentration again. She wasn't going to give up. Not this time! Sakura at last finished her routine and landed on the mat. She did it! Still, from the looks on her friends' faces and the disappointed look on Meilin's face told her that it wasn't necessarily her best performance.  
  
Sakura knew what was wrong. Before the accident, everything sparkled and dazzled because of how much she enjoyed being up there. Every movement that use to be the joy of her performance now felt like a chore. Sakura nervously looked up at Sonomi. If she yelled at her now, she knew she was going to cry.  
  
"That's good, Sakura. You seemed pretty stiff up there compared to your usual performance, but considering the accident, it can be accounted for. Other than that, just watch the placement of your arms and relax a bit. I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself; it's literally freezing you up."  
  
"Okay. I'll watch for that next time."  
  
"All right. Now why don't we have Meilin step up to the plate?"  
  
Meilin's eyes gleamed with joy as she ran toward the bars in delight. Everyone else smiled at her, but Sakura rolled her eyes. Her excitement in even the smallest things were unbearable.  
  
'Why does she have to act like everything's a thrill of a lifetime?' Sakura thought sourly.  
  
Meilin did make quite a few mistakes, but she had something that Sakura's routine didn't have: sparkle. Her routine came with a feeling of bliss that was in her. The way a simple routine could stand out was through expression and heart. Meilin used those; Sakura couldn't. Rika did her routine, as graceful as ever. Then there was Chiharu: perfectly poised.  
  
'Miss Perfect. No wonder she could never understand other people's problems.'  
  
"Nice!" said Sonomi as Chiharu got off of the bars. "Now let's give the beam a shot. You ready, Sakura?"  
  
Sakura's throat tightened. Nodding, she walked over to the beam with Tomoyo to spot her. Now was the moment of truth, and Sakura knew the pressure was on. Just as she got on the beam, her heartbeat started racing.  
  
'Ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven...'  
  
Sakura counted under her breath as she did her routine. The first two moves were done very smoothly. Then Sakura bent over to do a cartwheel when she looked down. It was only four feet, but it looked pretty high from that position. Sakura started getting dizzy as thoughts of falling flew to her head.  
  
"Sakura, what's wrong?"  
  
Sakura looked up and saw the others waiting for her. She knew she must have froze in that position for some time already. With sweltering eyes, she almost blurted out the truth, but Sakura grabbed her ankle instead.  
  
"I don't know. I felt a weird twinge in my ankle just now. Maybe I should rest it a minute."  
  
Sonomi's eyes widened. It would definitely not be good to let Sakura hurt herself just now. Sonomi nodded, signaling that they should all take a quick break for now. Her cheeks burning, Sakura climbed off of the beam back onto the mat. The rest of the Blue Stars came to her.  
  
"Sakura! Can I get you an aspirin? Some water maybe?" Meilin inquired breathlessly.  
  
Sakura just shook her head and gave a reassuring smile. Meilin nodded and stepped back as the other girls neared Sakura. Sakura then noticed that her friends were staring at her very oddly.  
  
"What?" she asked, irritated.  
  
"Nothing," replied Tomoyo and Rika simulatneously.  
  
"It's just that Dr. Kamiya said your ankle should be better by now," Chiharu blurted out. "He said..."  
  
"How would you know what he said?"  
  
"He said it would be completely healed in five days, so what's the scoop, Sakura? Are you better or not?"  
  
Sakura bit her lip as Chiharu continued about the district championships in a urgent tone of voice. Sakura crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance at Chiharu's explanation.  
  
"Do you think you're the only one who cares? I happen to be just the same as you, only I don't go around like a dictator and bossing people around!"  
  
Chiharu turned pale. "Sakura, I wasn't bossing around. I just..."  
  
"Well, just do me a favor and stay out of my business, okay?"  
  
"Girls! Girls! What's going on here?"  
  
Sonomi's eyes flashed as she reached the scene of the fight. Sakura crossed her arms and turned her head away while Chiharu's frown was inevitably etched onto her face.  
  
"Blame it on Sakura. She's the one with a problem."  
  
Sakura and Chiharu locked their gazes for an instant and then turned away, each in disgust at the other.  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
"All right, then. Let's get back to practice."  
  
Sonomi had them back to their workout in no time. Sakura felt relieved as they did their floor exercises. After all, it was pretty hard to fall off the mat, but when it came to their individual routines, the triple turns at the end conquered her.  
  
"I don't know what it is. My ankle just doesn't feel right," Sakura lied.  
  
"Well," Sonomi answered tiredly, "you might as well go back to your old routine then, Sakura. I still have the tape of it. 'The March of the Toys' sound good to you?"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
Sakura's shoulders slumped as she answered. After sliding back into place, Sakura matched up her routine to the notes of "The March of the Toys." It was a pretty routine - nice and simple.  
  
'And way too easy for you,' Sakura thought bitterly, 'or the gymnast that you used to be.'  
  
Sonomi ended practice with that. Seeing that no one was going to tell her about the fighting issue, she dismissed everyone except Sakura. Sakura nodded and looked at her feet while everyone else filed out.  
  
"I'm worried about you, Sakura. Ever since your accident, you've never been the same. Was there anything you wanted to talk to me about?"  
  
Sakura hesitated. Now was her chance to tell someone how she was really feeling. Then she thought of Chiharu - how Chiharu acted like Sakura should be back to normal just like that. It wasn't fair the way everyone was pressuring her. No one, none of them, especially Chiharu, seemed to have any idea what a really big deal it was to have an accident.  
  
"I guess I'm still recovering. It's just taking me a while, that's all," Sakura mumbled.  
  
"I know, Sakura. Believe me, I don't want to put more pressure on you. I just want you to know that you can talk to me about whatever you may be feeling."  
  
'Afraid.'  
  
"I will. Can I go now?"  
  
"Sure. See you Thursday."  
  
"See you."  
  
Sakura ran out of the gym, down the hallway to the locker room. She was hoping the others would be cahnged and ready to go, but they were just coming out of the showers. What was more, she could tell by the immediate silence that they were talking about her.  
  
"Hi, Sakura." Meilin's cheeks were pink.  
  
"Hi."  
  
Sakura turned away to her locker. Somehow, it made it feel even worse when she knew that they were talking about her in front of Meilin.  
  
"What did Coach Sonomi want?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Nothing?" Chiharu repeated in disbelief.  
  
"I thought I told you to stay out of my business," snapped Sakura.  
  
"Fine."  
  
Chiharu reached out to pull on her clothes. Rika stepped toward them in hopes of stopping the fight, but, to everyone's dismay, it didn't work.  
  
"Tell her that."  
  
"Me? It's you that's my problem, Chiharu! I had an accident. I sprained my ankle badly and all you care about is me getting better so the Blue Stars can be winners. That way you can be the star just like you always are. That's all you ever care about - being the star!"  
  
Chiharu whirled around. Her eyes were emblazened with anger as her cheeks were flushed in an boiling angry red. Everyone widened their eyes and backed away, hoping to avoid Chiharu's fury.  
  
"You should talk, Sakura! You're the one who wanted to be the star so much that you tried a move you couldn't even do and sprained your stupid ankle!"  
  
Tears threatened to flood Sakura's eyes. Before Chiharu spoke, she was ready to confess how she truly felt and what the real problem was. She had been afraid ever since the accident, but now, she would never tell them what's going on.  
  
"Who do you think you are, Chiharu? Queen of the World? I'm sick of you, and if it weren't for Rika, Tomoyo, and Aunt Sonomi, I would quit the Blue Stars right now! But if I do stay on the team, then I know one thing. I never want to talk to you, and I never want to hear you talk to me."  
  
"Sakura, Chiharu, stop this. We're the Blue Stars. We're friends. Friends work things out together. We can find a way to work out our problems. Please?" Tomoyo pleaded.  
  
Sakura glanced over at Chiharu. Chiharu was cool and collected, almost like she hadn't even fought a few seconds ago. Sakura shook her head.  
  
"I don't know, Tomoyo. The only problem I care about is my accident, and maybe if you'd done what you're suppose to do and caught me when I fell, we wouldn't be fighting," Sakura replied icily.  
  
To her horror, Tomoyo burst in to tears. Wails were heard so loudly in the locker room, Sakura was surprised that Sonomi didn't come running in to find out what was going on. Meilin and Rika jumped to Tomoyo to comfort her while Sakura just stood their, suddenly caught by guilt.  
  
"Tomoyo, I..."  
  
"Haven't you done enough harm for one day, Sakura? Just leave me alone!"  
  
Tomoyo wrenched herself free from the others and ran out of the locker room. Sakura stared at her fleeing appearance. She wished she could take everything back, but it was too late. Then she turned to Chiharu and felt her anger rising again. She wished she could apologize to Tomoyo and Rika, but not to Chiharu. Chiharu deserved everything she said, and she wasn't going to apologize to her EVER, and if that meant the end of the Blue Stars, that was just too bad. Picking up her belongings, Sakura turned and ran out of the locker room.  
  
*~*  
  
"Another one. This is perfect."  
  
An old batter was dusted off before being placed into someone's pocket. The figure, after pocketting it, left the room, Syaoran's old apartment living room. 


	7. Just a Little Bit of Sunshine

Blame It On Sakura  
  
Kristy Selean: Hi!! Yes, it has been another forever since I've updated this story, but I'm here, right? Plus, I've already mapped out the next chappie, so it won't be too long before I update again. Yay! All right, so, I hope you enjoy this chappie. Let me know how you like it, k? Oh, wait, one bad news and good news before we go on to the fic. The bad news is that we don't get to find out much about Syaoran in this chapter. The good news is that this is the beginning of the happy arc or the end of the sad arc, whichever way you want to look at it, so hang in there!  
  
Chapter 7: Just a Little Bit of Sunshine  
  
Sakura tiptoed into her house through the back door. Hopefully, just hopefully she could fool him just this once...  
  
"Sakura?" he called as he washed the dishes.  
  
Nope. Can't fool a half reincarnation of Clow Reed. Sakura sighed softly so he wouldn't hear her.  
  
"Tadaima."  
  
Sakura tried to make her voice sound like her usual cheerful self to no avail. Her voice cracked in the middle of her greeting, leaving plenty of room for her sad tone to come out. Fujitaka turned off the facet when he heard her voice crack. Something was wrong; it was all too clearly written somewhere in the atomosphere. When he saw Sakura's tearstained face, he immediately dropped the dishes and flung the gloves from his hands. Fujitaka kneeled and embraced his daughter.  
  
"Sakura, what's wrong?"  
  
Sakura tried to squirm free of her father's hug only to find that she couldn't fight back. It felt much more comforting to just let herself be embraced than to run away. Sakura sighed.  
  
"Nothing, nothing's wrong."  
  
Fujitaka sighed just as his daughter had done. He knew she wasn't telling the truth. He was a half reincarnation of the greatest sorcerer alive, for goodness sakes! And yet, he couldn't do anything here...  
  
"Sakura, you've been upset ever since the accident. I've checked in with Doctor Foster many times already, so I know he would have told me something if there was a problem," he answered slowly as he held her shoulders.  
  
Sakura looked away in hopes of hiding her tears. The last thing she wanted was for her kind father to worry about her. If only she didn't try to do that move on the bars. If only she didn't fall off the beam. If only she didn't get in the accident! Fujitaka looked into his daughter's eyes and understood everything.  
  
"You're still having trouble pulling yourself together after the accident, aren't you? Every time you come back from gymnastics, you're always upset," Fujitaka replied knowingly.  
  
Sakura nodded. How she longed to just spill her tears and tell her father exactly how she felt and what was really going on at practice! But how? The whole problem was just so big and complicated she didn't even know where to begin if she wanted to.  
  
"Sakura," her father continued softly "if you ever want to talk about it, I'll always listen. Sharing your problems never makes it any worse, after all."  
  
'Was that really true?' Sakura wondered.  
  
And if it was, why did she feel that this was one problem she couldn't share with anyone? Sakura hugged Fujitaka.  
  
"Arigato, otousan," Sakura whispered just before heading upstairs to do her homework. Normally, Sakura wouldn't go straight up to do her homework. She would watch TV or call a few of her friends for a while, but not today, especially because they weren't her friends anymore.  
  
Sakura entered her room and got ready to do her assignment for Japanese. She was assigned that essay a long time ago, but, of course, being a procrastinator and all, she neglected to do it until the day before it was due.  
  
Sakura stared down at her Japanese notebook and frowned. She never had a problem with Japanese, but ever since the...incident with Syaoran's leave, her grades had started slipping, especially in Math and Japanese. It was like some sort of a curse. Still, these things really didn't bother Sakura. If she couldn't be a great gymnast, she would definitely be a model or a fashion designer with Tomoyo one day: Famous, Fearless Kinomoto Sakura. But that was before. Now who was she?  
  
Kinomoto the Flop?  
  
Sakura shook her head and read the assignment. Write about something hard you've gone through and what you learned from it. Sakura pulled out a blank sheet of notebook paper. What in the world would she write about? Sakura slumped over in her chair as she tapped her pencil on the desk and held her chin in her palm. Sakura sighed. Japanese was never her favorite class, but she didn't hate it either. Besides, Japanese was Tomoyo's favorite subject. What could she do?  
  
Suddenly, Sakura felt the tips of her fingers prickle. In a flash, she knew what to write about.  
  
'I am a gymnast, and everyone used to call me Fearless,' she scrawled across the page. 'That was my name - Fearless Kinomoto. Then, one day, I had an accident.'  
  
Sakura's fingers danced over the page. She could never remember anything so easily. She wrote about how after the accident she kept thinking about gymnasts taking tumbles all over the place. She wrote about how her dad and everyone else thought she was coping so well at first that she didn't dare let them think otherwise.  
  
'I couldn't think how to let anyone know the truth,' Sakura scribbled, 'that I, once Fearless, was a secret fraidy-cat!'  
  
Sakura took a quick glance at the instructions again when the last part hit her. ...and what you've learned...  
  
'What have I learned? That being afraid is no fun at all?' Sakura thought dismally.  
  
Sakura took a deep breath and, writing a little slower, she continued.  
  
'People think people never change, but this experience taught me that they do. Something can happen anytime that can make the whole world different. That's what the accident did to me. In a flash, I changed from a Sakura who was never afraid to one who can't feel anything but fear. I am still scared, but I am trying to get over it. Also, in trying, I learned that real courage isn't when you don't know the meaning of fear; it is when you are really scared, but you do something anyway.'  
  
Sakura put down her pencil and swallowed. Gymnastics always reminded her of her past. Eversince Syaoran left...Sakura poured everything into gymnastics. Gymnastics changed her from her sad, quiet state back to the cheerful, spunky girl everyone loved. Gymnastics saved her once. Now what could save her from gymnasics?  
  
Suddenly, the card mistress froze and peeked at the window. She was positive she saw a flash of green somewhere...Sakura shook her head. Maybe she was just imagining things. Suddenly, something snapped in the back of Sakura's mind. Something or someone was there. Sakura closed her eyes and reached out with her mind when she noticed a faint, but familiar aura in the background.  
  
"Syaoran," she whispered.  
  
A rap at the window snapped Sakura out of her reverie. Sakura ran to open the window for her guest.  
  
"Syaoran? What are you doing here?" she asked as she closed the window and he walked in.  
  
"Just checking up on you," he answered.  
  
Sakura smiled as Syaoran gingerly walked around, glancing around the room. Syaoran paused at her desk and lifted up the paper she had been writing on.  
  
'No! Don't read it!' Sakura thought helplessly.  
  
Syaoran paused and looked up at her. Sakura's eyes widened. Did he read her thoughts? What just happened? Syaoran headed over to where she stood. Sakura felt he knees weaken when he came close to her and peered into her eyes. Sakura turned her eyes away as Syaoran frowned.  
  
"Why shouldn't I read it?" he asked.  
  
Sakura's eyes widened. She knew it! He could read her thoughts! But how? Sakura suddenly became afraid. What if he looked into her mind, her heart. What if...what if he found out that...she still liked him! Sakura felt her heartbeat speed up as she panicked. Maybe her outward appearance seemed calm enough, but her afraid eyes and slight trembling gave her away. Syaoran shook his head.  
  
"I don't know how I did it either. Maybe you projected your thoughts to me. All I know is, that was the first time something like that happened, so don't panic."  
  
Sakura felt herself relax just a bit, but just to be sure, she sat down at the edge of the bed as Syaoran's eyes scanned over her page of work. Sakura lowered her gaze with shame. He was actually reading it! Syaoran finished reading it with a little difficulty and placed it back on her desk.  
  
"You should tell them."  
  
"I know," Sakura whispered as she choked down the tears that threatened her eyes.  
  
Sakura started as the phone rang on her dresser. For a moment, she almost reached out and grabbed it. Touya had always complained about the phone bills that she put on her father. That was because the Blue Stars were always calling one another aobut practice, the homework club, or just for chatting. Sakura frowned. None of the Blue Stars would be calling tonight- or anytime soon.  
  
Just then, Sakura heard the phone get picked up. She looked up to see Syaoran holding the phone for her. Sakura sent him her best death glare that she could manage at the moment while Syaoran just grinned and shrugged. Sakura rolled her eyes.  
  
'Then again, he could be awfully cute at times...Ack! Sakura, what are you thinking?'  
  
"Hello?" Sakura greeted over the receiver.  
  
"Sakura? It's me."  
  
Sakura paused. Well, speak of the devil.  
  
"Tomoyo?"  
  
"Yeah, it's me," Tomoyo answered.  
  
Sakura let out a long breath, "Listen, Tomoyo, I'm really glad you called. I thought you'd be so mad at me, you wouldn't want to talk for a wekk. I, I'm really sorry for what I said, about you not catching me. That was just totally unfair."  
  
Syaoran raised an eyebrow.  
  
"That's okay," Tomoyo replied after a moment. "I'm sorry, too. I mean, I'm sorry we've been pushing you to get better so fast."  
  
Sakura sighed. "That's okay," she said in a small voice.  
  
"I don't know if it is," Tomoyo said sincerely. "Things aren't going well with us Blue Stars-as a team or as friends." Tomoyo paused. "That's why I'm calling. I think you and I should meet tomorrow before school to talk about everything. I know we could do it on the phone, but..."  
  
"Yeah, I know," said Sakura. "The phone's not the best way to talk when you have really important things to say."  
  
"Exactly. So can we meet tomorrow at 7:15 at the steps at school? I think it's important we talk."  
  
Sakura hesitated. "I don't know, I...ouch!"  
  
Sakura rubbed the spot on her arm that Syaoran pinched as she sent him another death glare. Syaoran shrugged yet again.  
  
"Sakura! Are you okay?" called Tomoyo.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. The neighbor's dog was using my arm for a chew toy."  
  
Sakura heard Tomoyo's infamous laughter echoing from the other end of the phone. Sakura jerked the phone away from her ear and squinted one eye shut as Syaoran sighed. That laugh was all Tomoyo, all right.  
  
"Sakura, I bet I know what's going on!" Tomoyo squealed.  
  
"What?"  
  
Sakura returned the phone to her ear.  
  
"Somebody else is in the room, aren't they?"  
  
Sakura smiled. That Tomoyo and her instincts.  
  
"Yeah. Someone who likes to pinch. Tomoyo about the meeting..."  
  
"Sakura, you're my best friend. If you won't talk to me, who will you talk to?"  
  
Sakura sighed. "Okay. I'll meet you on the back school steps at 7:15," she replied. "And I promise I'll be on time," she added on an later note.  
  
Tomoyo chucked softly. Knowing Sakura, this was probably yet another promise of being on time that she would have to break. Still, it was fun to tease her over it. "You'd better be," Tomoyo replied.  
  
"I will."  
  
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Sakura hung up the phone. She felt better than she had in days. It was weird, but knowing she was finally going to have to tell someone the truth was actually a relief, especially since that someone was Tomoyo. After all, Tomoyo was her best friend. If she couldn't understand, who could? She heard her window open.  
  
"I'll watch for you tomorrow morning," he called over his shoulder as he climbed out and jumped.  
  
Sakura got up and walked to the window. She waved at Syaoran who waved back before closing the window and walking back to her desk. Sakura started feeling a little shaky when another realization hit her. Fearless Kinomoto? Fraidy-Cat Kinomoto? Which one was the real her? 


End file.
